During the course of their tour of Hungary, students from Josai International University also paid a visit to the University of Debrecen, where they met international students from Japan and took a class of Hungarian at our Nyári Egyetem [Debrecen Summer School].
Members of this group of 17 students from Japan study the Hungarian language at home under the supervision of their teacher, Attila Király, who also acts as their guide at the different stations of what is called “Magyar tanulmányi út” [Hungarian Study Tour], in the framework of which they also visited Debrecen on March 3.
Following a welcoming address delivered by dr. Péter Szaffkó, Director of Debreceni Nyári Egyetem, the students from Josai International University were given a class of Hungarian and they also met Hungarian students who take Japanese at UD. After a quick whizz around our campus, they participated in a joint Japanese-Hungarian language class, where they taught songs about the season of spring to their hosts. The day’s program ended with a guided sightseeing tour of the city of Debrecen.
Attila Király, a teacher of the Hungarian language in Japan, who is escorting the group now, told us that these students study Hungarian at Josai International University in the city of Chiba as a second or third language. They have two classes per week, and they have been involved in the Hungarian program for a year.
The visit to Debrecen was one of the stations of a 13-day whistle-stop study tour. Other stations included the Hungarian universities Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Szent István Egyetem, and Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem, where lectures and presentations were arranged for the visitors at two separate departments.
At present, there are 100 individuals altogether enrolled in the Hungarian program of Josai International University, with which the University of Debrecen has signed an official agreement of cooperation. During the current academic year, we have as many as 87 international students from Japan involved in the English-language programs offered at the University of Debrecen.
Press Office, unideb.hu
